Sticky Doorknobs

Sometimes you read or hear things and you know they are true, but you don't actually KNOW they are true until you experience an "ah-ha" moment for yourself. That happened to me today. I went to open our basement door and when I went to let go of the doorknob my hand stuck to it. Now my first reaction was to be upset with Jack for getting the doorknob all sticky while eating the giant sucker I bought, and I let him eat carrying around the house even though I knew it was broken and would fall apart. How dare that three year old get my doorknob all sticky with his grubby little wrist-roll hands? How dare he? Then my mind raced forward about 20 years...when I'm 54 and Jack is 23.. and there will be no more sticky doorknobs. No more sticky doorknobs. No more little people climbing into my lap. No more little arms wrapped around my legs. No more little feet running through the house. No more little hands getting things all sticky. My mind quickly went from being upset over the doorknob to being upset over the thought of my babies growing up and the finality of that. People always talk about how fast the young years slip away and to enjoy them while they are here. And while I have experienced how quickly time is passing us by, how final the baby years are has just dawned on me. So now instead of getting upset at the finger prints on the door, the food stuck to the floor, the snot wiped on my clothes...I will be happy with the little people that so freely give those gifts of love.